Should You Be Drinking Collagen? |

Is drinking collagen the latest secret weapon in the battle against age? With big celebrity names like Jennifer Anistonjumping on the collagen band wagon it may seem like so. But before you start sprinkling collagen powder onto your morning toast, mid-day salad . . AND late night dessert, let’s get the facts.

BASICS:
Collagen, the most common protein in the human body, gives your skin its structure and elasticity. The body starts to produce less collagen beginning in your mid-twenties, taking a deep plunge in numbers during your forties (#sadness). This is a natural process, but can be negatively affected by sun exposure, and/or an unhealthy lifestyle.

Loss of collagen ultimately manifests physically as dryness, sagginess, dullness, and loss of plumpness in the skin (#doublesadness).

HISTORY:
For centuries, women in Asian cultures have been using ingestible collagens to slow down the aging process. To boot, it has also been found that an Asian diet in general is more collagen rich compared to other western societies.

Maybe this explains Lucy Liu?

RESEARCH:
The latest research has found that taking ingestible collagens significantly increases the appearance of skin after 8 weeks. Additionally, in a 2013 study by the Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, it was seen in a test of 100 women between the ages of 45 and 65 that those who took 2.5 grams of a hydrolyzed collagen peptide once a day for eight weeks exhibited a 20 percent reduction in wrinkle depth around their eyes.

As you would do before taking any other type of supplement, it’s always good to do a little digging to see what is being said about it first. And as always, never be afraid to advise your primary doctor.